The invention concerns a supporting element of spring steel or plastic for separable attachment of cover strips on a wall, for covering the transition between a wall and a floor panel or the like, whereby the supporting element has means for fastening it to the floor panel or the like, and means for separable supporting of the cover strips are provided.
Cover strips are used as base boards in the floor area in order to cover the transition between the floor and the wall or also as cover strips for the transition between a wall and a cover panel or a work surface.
Cover strips of this type were previously nailed or screwed directly on the wall and fastened with the interposition of clips which are pinned into the wall. For this, clips are used which have spring tongues which engage or latch into recesses of the cover strip so that the cover strip, if need be, can be rapidly removed and installed again.
The disadvantage is that holes must be bored into the wall. This is expensive and does not always enable a precise installation of the cover strip.
From European Patent Application EP 0 900 897 A2, an installation system for base board in accordance with the preamble of claim 1, in connection with which no boring in the wall is necessary, is known. This system consists of two parts, namely a U-shaped clip which is clipped on like a table cloth holder from the front face of the floor panel and an L-shaped spring contour, which is inserted into the plug-in groove of the clip and has a supporting section pointing upward on which, after mounting both parts on the floor panel, the base board (which has a slot on its lower narrow side) is put on. In accordance with a variant, the base board has a plug-in spring formed thereon which is inserted into the plug-in groove of the clip and thus holds the base board.
The disadvantage with this system is that the supporting element consists of two parts or can only be used in connection with a strip which has a plug-in spring formed thereon and possesses no device which guarantees a secure hold of the clip and a pressing of the base board upper edge on the wall. In the event of enlargement of the expansion joint between wall and base surface, there exists namely the danger that the U-shaped clip will no longer lie completely on the wall, but will rather form a gap toward the wall and this gap will also arise between base board and wall.
Therefore, it is the object of the invention to provide a supporting element for a cover strip which is simple to manufacture, which requires no fastening holes in the wall, which brings about an exact fitting hold of the strips, and which enables a separable fastening of the strips.
The object is accomplished in accordance with the invention in that the supporting element is constructed as a one-piece clip which for installation from the front face of the floor panel or the like is clipped thereon, in that the supporting element has a wall plate which in the installed state of the supporting element lies on the wall, and a clamping plate projecting from the wall plate at approximately right angles which in the installed state of the supporting element lies on the underside of the floor panel or the like, in that the wall plate has at least a first support section which, lying at a distance from the clamping plate, is provided on the upper and middle part of the wall plate, and proceeding from this is braced in the installed state of the supporting element on the upper side of the floor element or the like so that these parts of the wall plate are acted upon in the direction of the wall, and in that the wall plate has at least a second sprung support section which is provided on the lower part of the wall plate lying closer to the clamping plate, and proceeding from this, in the installed state of the supporting element, is braced on the front face of the floor panel or the like so that this lower part of the wall plate is acted upon in the direction of the wall, and in that the wall plate has at least one sprung holding tongue, the free end of which is separably attachable on the cover strip.
The supporting element of the invention is simple to assemble and guarantees a secure separable fastening of different cover strips. For installation, the supporting element to be clipped from the front face on a floor panel, a ceiling panel or a work surface. The first support section which lies with its lower free end on the upper side of the floor panel, guarantees in connection with the clamping section lying on the underside of the panel a secure fastening of the supporting element on the panel. In this assembled state, the wall plate of the supporting element lies on the wall. The first support section ensures that the wall place is pressed on the wall in its areas lying at a distance from the clamping plate, while the second supporting element, which is spring braced against the front face of the panel, ensures that the wall plate is also pressed with its region lying nearer the clamping plate against the wall.
This second sprung support section is, with reference to its shape and spring characteristics, constructed such that it is fitted to the expansion joint existing between the wall and front face of the first floor panel and bridges these such that the wall plate is pressed with its lower part on the wall, independently of the movements in the expansion joint, and consequently lies completely on this. This primarily guarantees that the assembled base board likewise completely lies upon the wall. The first support section is shaped and constructed such that it exerts a bracing force which, proceeding from its lower free end lying on the upper side of the floor panel, runs obliquely upward to the upper or central region of the wall plate. In this way, it is first of all guaranteed that even the upper and middle region of the wall plate constantly completely lies on the wall. Second, through the lower free end of the first supporting section lying on the floor panel in connection with the clamping plate lying on the lower side of the floor panel, the supporting element is fastened on the floor plate. The pressure which the first supporting section exerts on the upper side of the floor panel is proportioned such that indeed a pressing of the wall plate on the wall is continuously taking place, but on the other hand, under the spring force exerted by the second supporting section, an automatic displacement of the supporting element on the floor panel can take place if motions appear in the expansion joint, and these are compensated by the second sprung supporting section.
For installation, the supporting element is placed on the panel lying closest to the wall. Then this panel is laid in the usual manner, and subsequently the cover strip is latched onto the holding tongues or tongues of the supporting element. The shape and number of holding tongues is here selected such that can interact with the type of cover strip selected. In practice, supporting elements can consequently be manufactured with different types of holding tongues so that an easy adaptation to the cover strip used in any given case is possible.
Especially advantageous is a supporting element in which the wall plate has a spring holding tongue arranged in the upper part and a sprung holding tongue arranged in the lower part. The holding tongues in the upper part of the wall plate have a section projecting from the wall plate at right angles or at an angle thereto, and have a contact end bent from the section, whereby the contact end is bent upward and especially toward the inside toward the wall plate, whereby the contact end is bent obliquely downward and outside away from the wall plate. A supporting element constructed in this manner interacts especially advantageously with a cover strip which has recesses oriented toward the bending of the contact ends so that the upper holding tongue acts upon the cover strip in the direction of the wall and the lower holding tongue acts upon the cover strip in the direction of the floor.
It is of particular advantage if two first supporting sections are provided which are arranged in a mirrored, symmetrical manner on the two vertical edges of the wall plate, and are constructed as support lugs bent at approximately right angles from these vertical edges, and if two second sprung support sections are provided which are arranged in a mirrored, symmetrical manner in the lower part of the wall plate adjacent to the clamping plate on its two vertical edges and are constructed as support tongues bent from these vertical edges at an acute angle toward the plane of the wall plate forward.
With this configuration, the supporting element can be manufactured in one piece from a spring steel plate.
Further advantageous configurations are indicated in the remaining dependent claims.
The invention also concerns a kit including of floor elements, such as panels, laminate plates or the like, base boards and supporting elements.
The invention furthermore concerns the use of supporting elements according to the invention for fastening cover strips in the transition region between two surfaces running basically at right angles toward each other, as between wall and floor, ceiling, work surface or the like.